Harris exec to take reins at Artel

Ted Hengst, president of Harris Corp.’s IT business and the corporate chief information officer, is leaving the company to become CEO of Artel LLC.

Artel, which was founded in 1986, was acquired in 2011 by the private equity groups Torch Hill Investment Partners and TPG Growth. The company had over $400 million in 2011 revenue.

Hengst is replacing current CEO Roy Carter.

At Harris, Wayne Lucernoni will become acting president of Harris IT. He had been vice president and general manager for intelligence, civilian and health care programs.

Henry Debnam was named acting CIO. He had been deputy CIO under Hengst.

Hengst's last day at Harris is Friday and he begins his new role at Artel on Monday.

He joined Harris in 2006. He also was a senior vice president at General Dynamics. Hengst retired from the Army as a colonel and is a graduate of West Point and the Naval Post Graduate School.

Artel was founded Abbas Yazdani, who led the company for 25 years before selling it in 2011. The transaction was picked as an honorable mention for best private equity deal in Washington Technology’s annual mergers and acquisitions special report.

The company provides IT and telecommunications services in four areas: managed network services, information assurance, solutions integration and network operations.

Some of its major contracts include all of the combatant commands, the Army, Air Force, State Department and FEMA.